Better Off Alone
by I Am Number 6
Summary: Captain America is placed on a mission with the one Avenger he's nervous around, The Black Widow, to stop yet another rising super villian. But when his emotions get in the way he might not be the only one to pay the price.
1. Chapter 1

**So I know when I saw the movie I automatically paired Black Widow and Captain America together because Captain America is (in my opinion) the best looking Avenger and the Black Widow is a badass and she's really pretty so I paired them together in my mind and this is what I ended up coming up with. So let me know what you think.**

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After Loki when Captain America drove off into the sunset somehow he'd ended up going back to the Brooklyn. He visited Bucky's grave then S.H.I.E.L.D. set him up with an apartment on the upper east side of Manhattan equipped with cable and internet so he could catch up on his history, and his own personal gym so he didn't have to leave his own home. Mostly because they thought he might get lost in the big city and he'd done his best to avoid going outside. Everything was just so different. He'd been learning little by little about the past from history channel documentaries. Agent Hill even came over a few weeks before to check on him and she explained to him how to work his new DVR so he could record the important ones that were on so he could watch them later.

But since then he'd been alone in his apartment and no matter how much information he learned about the past, he still couldn't push out the thoughts of _his _past. Bucky, Peggy, and the rest of his friends who were all passed away. Of fighting in the war, and trying to pick up girls in Brooklyn who never looked twice at him because of his size. He missed them all so much sometimes he could hardly breath his chest was so tight. And no matter how hard he worked out, it didn't make him forget. It just made him feel a tiny, thousandth of a percent better than he had before.

"Is there a reason you're training so hard Captain?" Steve glanced over his shoulder and saw Natasha Romanov leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest. He waited for her to walk into the room farther but when she didn't he glanced back at the punching bag, which was slowly leaking sand onto the floor. After more than 70 years he still had no idea how to act around women, let alone women as beautiful as Miss. Romanov. He'd barely gotten the hang of being around Peggy before she was gone.

"I'm just trying to clear my head." he said after a minute and Natasha kept her eyes locked on him.

"Something bothering you?" she asked, her eyes traveling over to three of the ruined punching bags on the floor a little more than ten feet away from him. Sand was still sinking out of one he'd just replaced. Steve shifted on his feet as he watched her thoughtfully. He could tell her everything, all about what happened in the past, Red Skull, Peggy… It would be nice to have someone to talk to. But he knew it couldn't be her. He'd heard about her, mostly from Stark who hacked S.H.I.E.L.D.'s background files on everyone. Steve knew she couldn't be trusted. He knew he couldn't tell her anything without having to fear that some day she might try and hold it over his head to get whatever she wanted out of him. He thought about turning back to the punching bag, waiting for her to leave, but he didn't want to disrespect her. Before his mother had passed she'd made sure to teach him how to treat women.

"Nothing you can help me with." he said after a moment.

"Come on Cap. I'm sure I can help you with whatever your problem is." Natasha said finally stepping further into the room. Her eyes didn't travel around curiously, like he would've expected. She just walked into the room like it was a place she had been many times and felt completely at home in, as she smiled. The way the corner of her mouth curved up made Steve's stomach churn, uneasily. "I'm actually quote useful."

"Why are you doing this?" he asked and one of her eyebrows rose up in confusion.

"I'm trying to be helpful." Natasha answered shrugging slightly.

"I've heard about you. About how you manipulate people to get what you want, use them shamelessly. I know about 'the red on your ledger,' Miss. Romanov, and I know you're trying to redeem yourself. So what exactly do you want from me?" the smile disappeared from her face almost as fast as it had come and a steely look came into her eyes.

"Fury wants to speak with you."

…...

"Synthia Schmidt, also known as Sin, has been causing riots all through out the Los Angeles area." Fury said and Steve's eyes moved towards the screen in front of him. There was a picture of a women, probably around the same age as him. She had long red hair and bright red lipstick, with a black and red skin tight jumpsuit. Her skin was a few shades darker than his and she had intense eyes, that were almost so dark brown they were black. Sin was smirking at the camera smugly even though behind her there was a complete massacre. There was a man lying on the ground in a pool of blood, and two cars were smashed together, smoke rising from the hood of one. A building close to her reflected the fire light another building had probably set off.

"She and her partners, who call themselves Sisters of Sin, are promoting violence all through out the city, swaying some of the most influential people to commit rash actions in the heat of the moment. And when everything calms down, or civilians are scared she swoops in along with the others and seems to take away all the suffering by stopping the violence around them by taking out whoever the 'troublemaker' is. Slowly she's taking control of the city and we need you to stop her before things get even more out of control than they already are."

"She looks familiar." the Captain added after his eyes traveled over her face again.

"That's because she's Red Skull's daughter." Fury said and Steve felt himself freeze up. Red Skull was the reason he missed out on his entire life, and even though Steve had taken him down, he couldn't deny the pull in his stomach just at the thought of taking down his arch enemies daughter. "You and Miss. Romanov will work together to take her down." Fury added and Steve's eyes instantly traveled over to where Natasha was standing by the door beside Agent Hill, and Hawkeye. Their eyes locked for a minute and a million thoughts raced through his head. First that she didn't look as surprised as he felt, which meant she knew before they'd even arrived at the headquarters, second that she looked beautiful, and third that there was no way she could go on the mission with him.

He knew she could handle herself if it came down to fighting, but if she was there he didn't know if he'd be able to keep his focus on Sin and off her. Because honestly if he admitted it to himself, just her standing in the room more than 20 feet away from him, in her jumpsuit was distracting him slightly. So having her around when he was having a fully blown battle would be doing more harm than good.

"I think I'd rather work alone, if that's not a problem Sir." he said glancing back over at Colonel Fury, ignoring the slight look of shock that crossed the Black Widow's face. If he had to guess he would probably say it was because she hadn't been turned down very often. Fury's eyebrows were even raised in shock.

"Of course not Mr. Roger's. But be aware that Sin is telekinetic and telepathic, so taking her on on your own will be very difficult." he said and Steve nodded looking up at the image of Sin.

"I'll do my best Sir."

"Alright, you'll be on the next flight to Los Angeles."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews I appreciate them. I'm probably gonna be updating once a week, maybe twice if I have the time. And I love Natasha and Steve to :D. So anyways hope you like this chapter which is mainly just a filler**

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It came to Steve's attention that S.H.I.E.L.D. had put Agent Hill in charge of managing him, almost so much that he felt like he was being babysat. She rode with him on the plane, in a seat right next to his and explained what everything was that he didn't understand.

She drove him home from the airport. S.H.I.E.L.D. had apartments and headquarters set up all over the world so as soon as Steve got to Los Angeles, Agent Hill drove him to his temporary house, which just happened to be an Penthouse Suite in the Four Season's hotel. She gave him an Iphone which she taught him how to use the basic functions, and an app in case of an emergency that would show him the location of the nearest S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.

"If you need anything you have my number. Your cell phone has been updated now so you have all the contacts you'll need and any apps you might find useful, but I doubt you'll use those." she said as he looked around the room. It was just as spacey as his apartment on the upper east side but just as foreign.

Agent Hill gave him the keys to a new bike that S.H.I.E.L.D. had bought for him. Unlike the last Harley though it was a dark blue sports bike.

"Sin's been spotted around China Town so far so we're assuming that's where she'll strike again."

"I'll get right on it." Steve said nodding as he opened one of his bags, searching for his suit.

"Really Mr. Rogers. If you find yourself in need of anything I'm only a phone call away. It's my job to help you work through this and help you adjust to the 21st century." Agent Hill added standing in the doorway and Steve nodded as his lips curved up. She reminded him so much of a woman from the 40's it was scary, which was probably why they got along so well.

"Thank you Agent Hill." he said and her lips curved.

"You're welcome, and call me Maria."

…...

She was standing on the edge of a three story building, looking down at the group of people walking around below. She had medium length red hair and her lips were colored bright red from her lipstick. Sin was wearing black leather pants that showed off ever curve of her lower body and a red shirt that looked like it had been made of metal, along with red knee high boots. One look at her face and the Captain would've never thought she was Red Skull's daughter. Aside from the pale skin and hair they didn't have a thing in common.

"You don't want to do that?" Steve said and Sin looked over her shoulder before she grinned wickedly.

"Oh really? Whose going to stop me if I do? Some half pint wanna-be hero?" she asked and Steve felt his cheeks flush from anger but his face remained calm as he watched Sin. He'd been around Tony Stark long enough to let go of the little snips about his powers and about him being weak but that didn't mean the little comments about him being a hero didn't get under his skin slightly. Sin raised her hand and motioned toward a man before she jerked her wrist forward. Steve watched stunned as she made the motions with her hand, the man actually jerked forward into the man in front of him spilling his hot coffee all over them. Sin smiled and raised her hand to raise the mans hand so he could strike the other man with her mind, trying to cause chaos to erupt. But before she could the Captain's hand shot out.

"I said stop." he said gripping her wrist tightly.

"You think you are honestly a match for me?" Sin asked and Steve glared at her shifting his stance slightly. "Aww, that's cute." she said smirking again before she flicked her wrist sending him flying off the edge off the building. Steve's back smacked on the alley wall, before his body went forward and he landed face down on the ground between the two buildings, his head bouncing off the ground roughly. He pushed himself up slowly as she jumped easily down to the ground, bracing her knees before she walked over to him.

"I've heard about you Captain. You have no power. So how exactly are you supposed to hurt me?" Steve had never entertained the idea of hitting a woman before that point, but he knew he had to take her down to make the world a better place. He gripped his shield tightly before he jumped up slamming it against Sin's face, causing a sickening snap as it broke her nose.

She groaned as she stumbled backwards and he stepped forward ready to take advantage of the fact that she was down. But before he could make another move she raised her hand and sent him flying back onto the open street with her mind, right into a car that was passing by. The windshield cracked as his back slammed into it and someone inside screamed before they slammed on the brakes, sending the Cap sailing off the hood of the car, skidding along the pavement.

He almost groaned before he pushed himself up again, ignoring the pain in his head. She walked out of the alley to stand in front of him and people on the street screamed as they backed away from the pair, keeping their eyes locked on them. Sin lifted a motorcycle off the road and threw it at him with her mind but the handlebar of the bike barely clipped his side before Captain dodged it rolling to the side before he threw his shield at her. Sin raised her arm to stop the shield, unaware her powers wouldn't work on the shield. It crashed into her stomach knocking her back into a store window, shattering it as she went through.

Steve breathed heavily for a minute preparing to push himself up again. He could feel the tear in his uniform right above his left eyebrow from where he'd hit cracked his head on the car, and blood was slowly trickling down into his eye. His vision was starting to blur, but he still tried to push himself up, bracing his hand on the ground.

"Hey Captain!" Sin called emerging from the building and Steve stared at her. She raised her hand towards a flag pole and yanked it up out of the ground before she hurled it towards him, keeping him locked in place with her mind. Without his shield he had no way to protect himself, and he couldn't roll out of the way like he'd done before. From how fast she was throwing it, Steve knew it would impale him, but instead of closing his eyes and accepting death he glared into Sin's eyes as he struggled against her power, even as the shield came within 5 feet of his face.

Then the Black Widow appeared in front of him, holding his shield out as she kneeled in front of him bracing herself with her back to him. A split second after the flag pole slammed into the shield so hard it knocked her back into him, and sent them both onto the ground. The Black Widow jumped back to her feet almost as soon as she'd hit the ground facing off against the other red head. Sin growled under her breath as she heard the police sirens in the distance.

"I'll deal with you two later." she hissed before she disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Steve slowly pushed himself onto one knee and Natasha held out her hand which he gratefully took allowing her to haul him up to his feet.

"Still think you don't need my help?"

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**Next in _Better off Alone_**

"Use your sex appeal to get what you want Roger's. Lie."

"I don't believe we need to manipulate people to get what we want

"Which is exactly why you've failed so far."


	3. Chapter 3

**So thanks for the reviews, let me know what you think of this chapter.**

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She took him home to change out of his suit because apparently he was more popular than he knew and she didn't want to attract the attention of everyone. He thought about calling Agent Hill to ask her if she knew any doctors who could pick the glass out of the back of his head but when the Black Widow saw it she grabbed a pair of tweezers and started pulling out the glass pouring alcohol on it every so often to make sure it didn't get infected. Steve would've swore she was doing it on purpose just to make him flinch but he didn't, he just ground his teeth together clenching his jaw tightly.

She left so he could clean out the cut above his eyebrow and shower but had to come back less than three minutes later because he couldn't figure out how to get the shower to turn on. It disgusted Steve that pretty much everyone around him treated him like a child constantly. Fury, Stark, even Agent Hill. He was older than all of them yet he was still the youngest.

He walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist straight into his room but stopped in his tracks when he saw Natasha standing a few feet away with her back to him. She must've heard him breathing because she turned around and saw him. She'd changed from her jumpsuit into normal civilian clothes. Her hair looked like it had grown three or four inches since he'd been in the bathroom, and he knew it had to be extensions. He'd seen an advertiser going on about them on one of the shows he'd watched. Steve couldn't deny seeing her with longer hair only made him that much more attracted to her.

"Um what're you doing in here?" Steve asked and he swore he saw her eyes flicker up and down his body for a split second before they moved back to his face and he felt his cheeks get even hotter than before.

"Don't worry Cap, it's nothing I haven't seen before. I'm just here to make sure we don't go out and you look ridiculous." Natasha said and he glanced down at his body uncomfortably before he looked back up at her.

"What do you mean?"

"These we the only clothes you have that don't make you look like you're from before the 50's." Natasha said motioning towards the clothes she'd set out on the bed and Steve almost felt himself sigh in relief once she wasn't focused on him. Most of his favorite clothes weren't in the pile, but then again he hadn't really bought any civilian clothes after the experiment. "The only question is whether or not they'll fit."

"You want me to try them on now?"

"Well that would help." she said turning her back towards him. Steve waited a minute to see if she would leave but when he saw her twisting a knife between her fingers restlessly. He knew she wasn't going to leave so after a minute he pulled on a faded red Coca-Cola t-shirt that she'd set on the bed. It was the only thing that looked like he might've worn back before everything happened, and it actually looked comfortable. Steve slipped his boxers on underneath his towel before he pulled on a pair of jeans from the bed. Everything fit comfortably for the most part, his arms were almost to big for the shirt but just enough to where it showed off his muscle definition if he flexed slightly.

"Well how does it look?" he asked and Natasha turned around to face him before she nodded in approval.

"You look normal."

…...

"It's not shawarma but it's the closest thing around." Natasha said as she slid in the booth and Steve sat down across from her. Out of everywhere in L.A. she could've picked to eat at, somehow they ended up at Denny's.

"Shouldn't we check in with S.H.I.E.L.D."

"I already did while you were in the shower Fury knows all about Sin." she said taking a drink of her coffee before she sighed heavily, relaxing. He would've thought he would only eat salad and fish to keep her figure looking the way it did so he was surprised when he saw she ordered almost the biggest thing on the menu and how she inhaled her food more than she actually chewed it. Steve had heard the expression 'eat like a baby dinosaur' and he couldn't help but think that saying reminded him a lot of the way Natasha ate. "Believe it or not this isn't my first mission."

"What did he say?"

"He said he was glad we were able to work through whatever issue we had because it'll take both of us to take out Sin. Which I just so happened to have a plan for." Natasha said as Steve stopped stirring his coffee to look at her thoughtfully. She'd already taken it in her

"And that would be?"

"We'll go undercover. Create aliases and get in with the most powerful people in L.A., the people who Sin would be most interested in. If we become people she'd be interested in, she'll come to us instead of the other way around. We'll get to know her strengths and weaknesses, so we'll learn how to take her out more efficiently."

"How exactly are we going to be seen as important people of L.A.?"

"Well the alias will do the work for us. We just have to stick to them. And people are more likely to believe something if it comes from a pretty face." she said staring at him. Steve thought she was talking about herself, because everyone in the room could see she was beautiful. Staring into her eyes across the table just made it more obvious. But when she moved her chin motioning between them and he realized she was talking about both of them.

"What do you mean they're more likely to believe us?"

"Use your sex appeal to get what you want Roger's. Lie." Natasha said shrugging as she took a sip of her coffee.

"I don't believe we need to manipulate people to get what we want." Steve said leaning forward across the table and Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Which is exactly why you've failed so far. You honestly think you can take on Sin by yourself?" she asked and the Captain's cheeks flushed light pink in anger.

"If Fury didn't think I could he wouldn't have set me on the mission."

"But he didn't just set you on the mission Rogers. He set _us _on the mission. For whatever reason you don't want to work with me you're gonna have to get over it because you need me." she said staring at him. There was a steely glint in her eyes that made Steve's mouth go dry. He tried to sort out the thoughts in his head because he wasn't sure what to say to her. And the way she was staring at him only made his brain scramble uncontrollably and his heart pound so hard against his chest he was sure she could hear it.

"This isn't about me not liking you or having an issue with you. This is about me not wanting to have to watch out for someone. I don't want you getting hurt because of me and I don't want to get hurt because I'm so distracted watching you I can't focus." his answer was more or less completely honest. Steve couldn't exactly stare straight at her and say he didn't want to work with her was because he was attracted to her and whenever she was around he was at least half focused on her all the time. She was so calm and collected even in the most dangerous situations combined with the fact that she was so smart and sassy at times drove him insane. Steve had never been more attracted to a girl in his life.

"Believe it or not I can take care of myself Cap." Natasha said watching him closely but they both knew he didn't need to be told. They'd fought side by side against Loki and whenever he glanced over his shoulder to see how she was doing, Natasha was holding her own against his army.

"I know. I just…" Steve knew she could tell he wasn't being completely honest about why he didn't want her there so he tried hitting closer to home. Telling her about Bucky might make her believe him a little more, and everything he said was completely true. "The last time I worked with someone, before the Avengers. He died, and it was my fault. He could protect himself to, until the end, and when he needed me I couldn't save him."

Natasha's eyes softened slightly but Steve could still see the hard edge as she looked at him. She glanced over her should to look around before she opened her mouth.

"I've been on more missions in the past year than you have in your entire life Steve. So you don't need to worry about me. I'm more than capable of making sure I don't get myself killed and I can make sure you don't get yourself killed too. As long as we work together, taking out Sin shouldn't be a problem." she said staring at him and Steve almost sighed. He knew from the look on her face she wasn't going to leave no matter what he said, and saying no would only make things more tense between them. If he just agreed then they might be able to get things done quicker, instead of disagreeing and having to drag everything out.

"Okay."


	4. Chapter 4

He had no idea where he was supposed to go. Lying wasn't exactly his forte so walking into a room, alone, where he was supposed to lie to everyone and pretend to be Daniel McCarthy was the least bit appealing to him. Natasha was no where in sight and he had no way of finding her in the crowded ballroom so he kept walking, hoping to run into her before he ran into Sin. Natasha had left before Steve, saying she needed to get things in order before their big appearance at and event Sin might attend. The Governor's party, were only the rich and prestigious people of L.A. were allowed to attend.

He repeated the words he'd practiced all day, trying not to forget a single part of his alias. He was Daniel James McCarthy, and the only son of Daisy and Thomas McCarthy, wealthy business owners in New York City. He was 25 years old and he was recently married to Mikayla McCarthy, the daughter of Tyler McCarthy, a nuclear engineer. They both lived New York growing up but Mikayla went to Pepperdine University for college. They met when they were in high school together and staid in contact during the time he served in Iraq as a soldier for the U.S. Army. He'd come and spend almost every leave he had with her and when he finished serving the first place he went was to Pepperdine.

He got an apartment in L.A. while she was still in college, because he couldn't afford to live any closer, and he'd go down to see her every weekend He worked as a construction worker for a few months until she finished school. Then they bought a house together and not even six months later he asked her to marry him on the beach in San Diego. And tonight they were at the Governor's party to get to know more people because Mikayla's father was looking forward to donating money to schools in L.A. to help the youth.

"There you are honey." Steve felt a slender arm wrap around his waist and his head snapped to the right. Natasha was standing beside him, so close she was pressed against his side, smiling brightly with her arm around his waist. It took him half a second to recognize it was her, because in the few hours that she'd been away from him she'd changed her appearance dramatically. Her hair was now long and light brown and she had on mascara, eyeliner, and lip gloss, but other than that her face was bare. The most stunning thing Steve saw though was her dress. It was a long blue strapless dress, that covered her shoes and set off against the light color or her skin. The top hugged her body tightly but the bottom flowed out slightly. Steve knew he'd never seen anyone look that beautiful in his entire life.

"Taylor this is my husband Daniel, Daniel this is Governor Taylor." she said nodding toward the older man in front of them. He had thick gray hair and light blue eyes. Wrinkles were present under his eyes but there was a little dimple in his cheek when he smiled that made him look far younger than anyone would think if they looked at the rest of his face.

"Daniel it's a pleasure to meet you." Governor Taylor said smiling as he held out his hand and Steve shook it firmly. "Mikayla has told me all about you and I must say I give you my full respect for your work in Iraq."

"Thank you Sir, it's a pleasure to meet you as well."

"And I must say, you're wife is a wonderful woman." Taylor said and Natasha smiled looking at the ground, almost as if she was shy. Steve had heard how good she was at undercover missions but he'd never seen it first hand, and he'd never seen someone lie so effortlessly and still be believable. But she was. If he didn't know any better he would've believed every word she was saying and thought she was feeling every emotion that crossed her face. Maybe that's what made her so dangerous, and a useful Agent for S.H.I.E.L.D. If they actually worked together Steve knew they could take down Sin and the rest of her sisters, as long as he could play his part and try to get closer to her inner circle, so they could take her out when she least expected it.

Steve smiled at Taylor then at Natasha before he wrapped his arm over her shoulder hesitantly, trying to make it look smooth, like he did it all the time. She looked up into his eyes and he had to force himself to keep eye contact with her. Until that point he'd never realized how green her eyes were.

"I tell her that everyday." he said staring down at her and she smiled.

"Excuse me Governor Taylor, but you have a phone call." a young woman said walking up and smiling at Taylor and he smiled back brightly before he looked at Steve and Natasha. She had sleek black hair and blue eyes that radiated energy and caught Steve's attention almost immediately. Her eyes traveled over to him and he saw the corner of her mouth tilt up a little more than before.

"Daniel, Mikayla, this is my secretary Jessica Newberry. Jessica these are the McCarthy's." Taylor said motioning between them. Natasha smiled at the girl and Steve almost stuck his hand out to shake hers but stopped himself halfway and smiled instead.

"Well you two enjoy the rest of your night and I'll look forward to catching up with you later." Taylor said smiling before he turned heading in the direction where Jessica was leading him.

"What do we do now?" he asked moving his arm off her shoulder.

"We blend in." Steve watched Natasha awkwardly for a minute before she took the reins and put on of his hands on her lower back instead of where it should've been placed on her waist and the other in hers. She wrapped her other arm around his neck so the were pressed against each other lightly. With her heels on, she was only a few inches shorter than him so she could rest her chin along the front of his shoulder so it didn't look obvious she was watching people.

"See anyone suspicious?" she asked as they swayed to the music and Steve looked over her around the room before he shook his head slowly. Everyone was either dancing on sitting at one of the tables drinking and talking to each other.

"No. But have you noticed the Governor is spending more time with his secretary than his wife?" Steve asked looking over at where Taylor was standing beside his secretary, smirking slightly while she laughed. His wife was standing over in the corner talking to a group of girls who were around the same age as her.

"That's a 21st century issue Captain, not something we really need to worry about." Natasha said. Captain America had seen and heard many times of people cheating on their wives but he'd never seen it done so blatantly. Especially when the mans wife wasn't even 50 feet away from him.

"I know that. I watched a movie on Lifetime while I was in Manhattan." he said watching Taylor. Natasha raised her eyebrow and Steve felt his cheeks flush slightly. "Agent Hill said she thought it would be a good idea, so I could catch up on how people interact with each other now."

"She just seems… I don't know. Why would someone like her be interested in the Governor. She's young and beautiful so there can't be much he's doing for her."

"There's always money Rogers. You'd be surprised how big of a motivator that can be."

**To Be Continued**

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**I've already started working on the next chapter so I should have it out withing the week. Thanks for the reviews and I wanted to give a special thanks to MargaretQueens because for one I always like when I see you review because you give me so much feedback and seeing positive things always is a good motivator for me so yeah thanks :) I'm glad you guys like the story so far**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry about the wait but my laptop broke and I had to send it in and I barely got it back so yeah, but anyways I just thought I'd put this up, which was written before my computer decided to have a mental breakdown. I know it's short but somethings better than nothing right? So yeah let me know what you think**

After about ten minutes of after they started dancing Steve finally felt comfortable enough to loosen up. Natasha couldn't have been more relieved because so far his act at making them look like a married couple wasn't as good as it could've been. They still kept a look out as they danced and Natasha even told him a joke every now and then to get him to smile so he didn't look like he was miserable and uncomfortable. They both kept an eye out for Sin, but no one at the party seemed to be doing anything out of the ordinary. But then something so unexpected happened Steve thought his heart stopped.

Natasha pressed her lips against his and Steve felt his body go rigid for a minute. The only woman he'd ever kissed was Peggy and that was more than 70 years ago. So to have Natasha Romanov kiss him made the Captain's knees go weak. Her lips were warm, and softer than he imagined. They shaped themselves around his almost perfectly and one of her hands was resting lightly on the back of his neck. Steve could smell her perfume as she kissed him again, and even though he had no idea what was going on, he felt himself kiss her back. He even felt his eyelids flutter shut after a second.

Even when he'd kissed Peggy, he'd never kissed her like Natasha was kissing him. Peggy was passionate but Natasha had far more experience under her belt and even though she was kissing him slowly, it was so passionate he thought his brain might explode. Maybe it was the fact that it was Natasha, one of the hardest members of the Avengers, someone who he'd fought side by side with, was kissing him.

Someone cleared their throat and she broke away from him turning her head to the side and looking away as if she were embarrassed. Steve looked the other way and saw Governor Taylor standing beside them.

"Excuse me Mr. McCarthy, I would like to personally invite you and your wife to a dinner I'm hosting tomorrow at my house. It'll give us a chance to discuss things more thoroughly and other friends of mine will be joining us."

"We would love to." Natasha said smiling.

…...

"What was that?" Steve asked once they were back in the Penthouse. Natasha had went straight for the shower but now she was fully dressed, sitting in front of a mirror as she combed out her hair. She didn't bother looking at him as he spoke, she didn't stop messing with her hair, she just kept going which for some reason made Steve clench his jaw.

"What was what?" she asked running her fingers through her hair.

"You kissed me."

"So?" Natasha said barely glancing at him before she looked back in the mirror. Steve stared at her with his mouth hanging open slightly, completely at a loss for words. He'd expected her to say something that would put his mind at ease as to why she would kiss him. It wasn't possible that she actually liked him in a non-coworker type of way. He didn't even really think she liked him all that much as friends. They were just two Avengers that had been stuck together for a mission, just like her and Stark, and Steve knew there was absolutely nothing going on with her and Tony. She had more respect for herself than that.

"Do you just go around kissing people on all your missions?" he asked after a minute and the corner of her lip quirked up. She turned around to face him leaning back against the wall as she tilted her head to the side. Even though she'd just gotten out of the shower and she was wearing civillian clothes she still looked like she was ready to attack at any given moment.

"Why? Did it bother you?" her green eyes bored into his, which normally would've made his throat swell up or the butterflies in his stomach to move around so rapidly he was afraid if he opened his mouth he might just throw up, but it didn't.

"Yes!" Steve said loudly and Natasha raised her eyebrow at him. He cleared his throat shifting slightly before he started speaking again, calmer than before. "I mean, you can't just do that. We're a team. We work together. You can't just surprise me like that."

"Rogers it's not like I just did it as a spur of the moment type of thing. It was part of our cover." she said exasperated and Steve felt his cheeks flush slightly. "How many married couples do you know who don't kiss in public?"

"But what would Fury say if he saw that?"

"Who cares what Fury thinks? We're on a mission. We can do whatever we need to, to complete it. And what's the big deal anyways Rogers? It was just a kiss." Natasha said calmly and after a minute Steve nodded slowly. He had no idea what had changed so much in the past 70 years that made women think nothing of kissing. It used to be something special but apparently now it meant almost nothing.

She stared at his reflection in the mirror and he stared back, making the silence so deafening Steve knew she could hear his heart hammering in his chest. Her eyes set him off. They just gave him that old soul feeling that Steve himself had. He wanted to ask if it really meant nothing to her, or just how many men she'd kissed for the sake of her mission, but deep down he knew he really didn't want to hear the answer.

"I know. I'm sorry for overreacting." he replied after a moment but Natasha didn't look away from him and he couldn't pry his gaze away. He felt like she could see right through him and she felt exactly the same way.

"I hope I'm not interrupting, but Sin has been spotted." Agent Hill's voice almost made Steve jump out of his skin, but he was glad from the distraction. He turned away from Natasha and nodded heading towards the door.

"I'm on it."


	6. Chapter 6

Their plan to catch Sin failed. Steve came out of the fight with a long cut across his neck that had finally stopped bleeding, his whole body sore, and Natasha came out with a dislocated shoulder that she popped back into place as soon as they were home. Steve thought it was weird that even though minutes ago they'd been fighting for their lives she still looked like a model.

"Maybe we should try working together as a team instead of just coming at her from two different angles." he suggested rubbing the back of his head tenderly.

"Well you're the one who said you liked to work alone." Natasha growled under her breath. He was standing in front of one the sinks and mirror in the bathroom and she was leaning against the wall, glancing at one of her pistols.

"And we've seen how well that plan has worked out for us." he admitted and she put her gun back in it's holster.

"Well it was _your _plan." she said calmly. Steve turned to look at her as his eyebrows rose slightly. He'd never had someone call him out on making a mistake so directly before, especially when he'd already admitted he was wrong.

"Which is why I'm owning up to the fact that my plan didn't work."

"It doesn't take a genius to see that." she mumbled and Steve looked insulted.

"I don't see you making any plans Ms. Romanov." he asked watching her closely but Natasha ignored his stare and moved towards the other sink. It wasn't like she had offered up any other plans besides lying to the governor so maybe they could get information, and that had gotten them no where, but he hadn't thrown that up in her face.

"This is your mission Cap. I'm not the one in charge. And Fury would blow a gasket if he found out I was ordering you around." Natasha turned on the sink and ran her fingers under the water slowly, rinsing some of the dirt off her skin.

"Excuse me?"

"Fury gave me specific orders to do as you said because this is your mission. I'm just here for back up." she said shrugging slightly and Steve stared at her.

"Well Fury isn't here now is he?" he asked rephrasing her earlier words. He walked towards the sink, grabbing a wash rag, soaking it with water. He reached up and started to scrub at the blood on his neck as he looked in the mirror, trying to clean it off. Natasha watched him, massaging her sore shoulder lightly. "So what's your plan?"

"I think we should go the Governor Taylor's retreat. We can get more information out of him that can lead us to Sin. Until then we'll have to form a better plan of attack." Steve almost mumbled that her plan didn't sound much different than his but he knew it would more than likely start an arguement so he kept his mouth closed.

"You're scrubbing it to hard." Natasha scolded taking the wash cloth from Steve. She forced him to turn around and Steve stared straight forward as she looked up towards the cut on the side of his neck. She brushed the cloth lightly against his skin so softly Steve felt goose bumps rise on his skin. She was standing so close to him he could feel the heat coming off her body, but he knew if he tried to shift away from her she would notice. Besides it didn't seem to bother her so it shouldn't bother him either.

"It's not as bad as it looks." she said rinsing the blood off the rag before she started wiping his skin again gently. "It's just a scratch."

"Thank you." he mumbled after a minute and Natasha nodded slightly.


End file.
